From urban cities to rural towns, people are coming together in outrage to demonstrate that #BlackLivesMatter and call for the end of white supremacy culture and systematic racism. This is not a new struggle or fight. This is a response to centuries of oppression that has torn apart Black communities through slavery, police brutality, incarceration, economic disenfranchisement, redlining, wage theft, and environmental racism.
As an intersectional climate coalition, we know that we cannot achieve climate justice without racial and economic justice. We also recognize that we cannot fight the climate crisis without being anti-racist. Our society’s solutions must actively work to replace the current racist system with one that is just, equitable, and explicitly repairs past injustice.
Ways to take anti-racist action:
- Over the last week, our coalition has found these articles helpful to understand the intersections of race and the climate crisis. We hope you will too:
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- We Need You to Fight for Us to Breathe. By April Sims in The Stand
- I’m a Black Climate Expert. Racism Derails our Efforts to Save the Planet. By Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in The Washington Post
- Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism. By Somini Sengupta, featuring Sam Grant, Robert D. Bullard, and Heather McGhee, in the The New York Times.
- Why Racial Justice is Climate Justice. By Claire Elise Thompson, featuring Adrien Salazar, Kerene Tayloe, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Mariah Gladstone, and Alvaro S. Sanchez, in Grist
- The climate crisis is racist. The answer is anti-racism. By Erik Holthaus, in The Correspondent
- Learn about and support Black-led organizations at the forefront of this work
- Donate what you can to the following bailout funds and organizations that are leading this work
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- Black Visions Collective – A Black, trans and queer-led organization committed to dismantling systems of oppression and violence, and shifting public narrative to create transformative, long-term change
- Reclaim the Block – Minnesota coalition that advocates for and invests in community-led safety initatives in Minneapolis neighborhoods.
- Black Lives Matter Seattle Freedom Fund – The funds collected will go to the immediate release of people protesting the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Manuel Ellis in Seattle/King County.
We uplift the lifelong work of Black, Brown and Indigenous-led organizations calling for racial justice and the transformation of our neighborhoods into places where everyone can be safe, healthy, and can thrive. We remain committed to confronting and undoing structural racism, uplifting the voices and decision-making power of communities of color, black, and indigenous communities, and pushing for solutions that invest our communities most impacted by structural racism, pollution, and the climate crisis.
In Solidarity,
Lauren Breynaert
Coalition Director, Climate Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy